The Bombers play a solid game, riding a strong defensive performance and just enough offence to get the job done against a tough opponent. Confidence is high. The players are feeling good. It has to be the start of something good, right?

Wrong.

That scenario has played out eight times over the last 23 months. The Bombers have won eight games only to follow it up with a loss each and every time. The Bombers haven’t had a winning streak since August 2011, when they rattled off five victories in a row. Since then they’ve won 10 and lost 20. None of those victories occurred in back-to-back weeks.

Every CFL team had at least one winning streak last year. That includes the Tiger-Cats, who finished with the same 6-12 record as the Bombers.

It shows the Blue and Gold still have trouble dealing with success, which no doubt comes from being the most inexperienced team in the league. On Saturday night at Alumni Stadium they have a glorious opportunity to stop their inconsistent ways against an injury-plagued and reeling Tiger-Cats team that has started the season with two losses.

The Bombers (1-1) are coming off an impressive 19-11 road triumph over the Montreal Alouettes, and veteran cornerback Jovon Johnson believes his team can ride that momentum into its first winning streak in nearly two years. The defence hasn’t felt this confident since 2011.

“The way we practise is the way we play,” Johnson said Friday afternoon on a sun-drenched balcony at the team hotel. “The coaches harp on us about getting to the ball, and when we watch the film of us against Montreal, it’s always five, six or seven guys around the ball. That is contagious, and that’s how you win football games.”

The Bombers lead the CFL with 11 sacks through two games, although they will be making a couple of changes on their defensive line. Canadian Jake Thomas will start in place of the injured Bryant Turner, who is out with strained chest ligaments, and that means Winnipeg will have eight non-imports in the starting lineup instead of the minimum seven. Marquis Frazier and Dexter Davis, who are both making their CFL debuts, will also get some snaps on the defensive line.

The question that lingers is whether the Bomber defence is actually as good as it looked last week against the Alouettes. Ticats head coach Kent Austin believes it is.

“Their defence is really good,” Austin said. “They have speed, they have the ability to pressure the quarterback, they can collapse the pocket from the inside and the outside, they run to the ball well, they’re aggressive in the secondary, they cover well, their zone schemes are very sound.

“They space the field well, both underneath and in the back end. When they get them in man coverage, they’re very aggressive and they get after the receivers and they’re good open field tacklers. Is that enough?”

Winnipeg’s offence will be looking for its first strong showing of the season, and Hamilton might be just what the doctor ordered. The Ticats run defence is especially weak, and Bombers tailback Chad Simpson is looking to bust out after facing the Montreal blitz for much of the first two weeks. He is taking nothing for granted, however.

“You can’t go in thinking like that,” Simpson said, “because you might be the game they get it right on.”

Winnipeg Blue Bombers looking for first winning streak in two years

The Bombers play a solid game, riding a strong defensive performance and just enough offence to get the job done against a tough opponent. Confidence is high. The players are feeling good. It has to be the start of something good, right?

Wrong.

That scenario has played out eight times over the last 23 months. The Bombers have won eight games only to follow it up with a loss each and every time. The Bombers haven’t had a winning streak since August 2011, when they rattled off five victories in a row. Since then they’ve won 10 and lost 20. None of those victories occurred in back-to-back weeks.

Every CFL team had at least one winning streak last year. That includes the Tiger-Cats, who finished with the same 6-12 record as the Bombers.

It shows the Blue and Gold still have trouble dealing with success, which no doubt comes from being the most inexperienced team in the league. On Saturday night at Alumni S